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The nation’s local CPA firms are emerging as the engines of recovery for the accounting profession. While big companies and global firms are laying people off, the nation’s small and mid-sized firms are apparently holding on and even surging. The AICPA’s Mark Koziel, Senior Technical Manager, for example, reports that “smaller CPA firms are making it through the recession just fine.” Most are predicting marginal growth and “some are even expecting double-digit growth.” The reasons for their upbeat outlook:
The irony, of course, is that in recent years, larger firms and major corporations had the upper hand. But now, Koziel says, “the tides are turning.” Layoffs at larger firms are freeing talent for smaller firms. Indeed, most accountants and finance executives have come to believe in recent weeks that the worst of the banking crisis may be behind them, but they’re not so sure about the outlook for the rest of the nation. In early responses to a Bay Street Group poll for the CPA Insider™ family of e-newsletters, the number of accountants expecting improvement for their firms and companies over the next six to 12 months is outpacing the number expecting further deterioration by a margin of two-to-one. The mood reverses completely, however, when asked about the prospect for the nation in general. There, CPAs expect the recession to worsen by a two-to-one ratio. Their concern stems from their inside knowledge of their clients — most accountants see many clients suffering and no relief in sight. Privately, CPAs are a little embarrassed by the disparity. And, although they can’t rescue all their clients or single-handedly fix the broken economy, they are grateful for their good fortune. “The economy will continue to suffer for a variety of reasons,” said Ron Silberstein of Maddox Ungar Silberstein PLLC, a local firm in Bingham Farms, Mich. Nevertheless, Silberstein is finding opportunities for his firm. “Our firm has some niches that have resulted in rapid growth,” he says. Silberstein is more the rule than the exception in the accounting community today. To be sure, accounting firms and finance executives have not been immune from the ravages of The Great Recession. But the accounting sector is weathering the storm relatively strongly. When the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its employment report earlier this month showing a loss of 511,000 jobs across the country, the number of jobs among accountants and bookkeepers actually grew about two percent. “The economic decline has motivated our clients to assist them in reviewing their financial and tax positions,” says Roy L. Goodrich of Goodrich Baron Goodyear LLP in Long Beach, Calif. “We have increased our business development efforts.” Goodrich apparently knows what sound business minds have known for a long time. The time to be growing is when others are shrinking, buying when others are selling. Or as Warren Buffet, the Sage of Omaha, once said, “Bear fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” More for CPA Channel Marketers by Rick Telberg:
RICK TELBERG is president of Bay Street Group LLC, which provides research and marketing and communications services to CPA firms and the vendors who serve them. He is the founding editor of the Insider newsletters and serves as AICPA Editor at Large and Director of Online Content. In his two decades in media and marketing for the finance, tax and accounting industries, Telberg has played pivotal roles in the development and operation of the leading media and e-commerce outlets in the business, including Accounting Today, The Practical Accountant, Accounting Technology, WebCPA.com, SmartPros.com, and CPA2Biz.com. Contact Rick at rtelberg@baystreetgroup.com or (914) 674-4531. He blogs at cpatrendlines.com. Follow CPA
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Matters: Local CPAs Defy Recession